Nurturing a new generation of farmers

U.S. agriculture is the most efficient, cost-effective model of food production in the world. It feeds a substantial proportion of the Earth’s population each year, providing corn, wheat, fruit, vegetables and meat to hundreds of millions of people.

But it comes at a high cost.

Year over year, the production inputs of American agriculture increasingly absorb a greater percentage of crop sale value. Industrialized agriculture is more efficient but requires huge start-up costs and vast energy resources, dissuading young entrepreneurs from entering the industry.

Seventy years ago, close to 40 percent of Americans grew up on family farms. Now, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, less than 3 percent of Americans describe themselves as members of farm families.

Fewer and fewer people have a clear understanding of where their food comes from or how it is produced. The average age of the American farmer is nearing 59, and young people seeking to enter the industry are deterred by the high costs of land, equipment and a federal support system that does not acknowledge the importance of small yield production.

These were some of the observations of a group of young farmers attending this year’s Montana Farmers Union convention.

“Something needs to change,” said Laura Ginsburg, a Lake County dairy farmer who, along with her partner, launched the Golden Yoke Dairy outside St. Ignatius three years ago.

“We need new farmers. And we need new farmers that aren’t going to be so financial overcome that if the market goes bad in any given year that they go bankrupt.”

Ginsburg is working to establish the first new dairy licensed in Montana since the early 1990s.

As with most of the nation’s agriculture, the decades since World War II have been characterized by greater consolidation. Prior to the 1950s, Montana was home to hundreds of small, family-run dairies. Most people got their milk, butter and cream locally — often from someone they knew.

Today there are fewer than 70 dairies in the state, and much of the production is bottled and shipped to consumers outside Montana’s borders.

“Half the dairies are on Hutterite colonies and the other half are Meadow Gold producers,” Ginsburg said. “The majority of Meadow Gold milk in this state is bottled for Costco. It gets shipped to the Meadow Gold plant, gets bottled for Costco and then it goes all over the place — which is great, but the income from that milk does not stay in this state because it’s a value added product that’s shipped far away.”

Frequently, small-scale ag producers are overlooked by federal support programs geared toward large farm operations. Today, Golden Yoke Dairy consists of just 40 acres, an area too small to qualify for Farm Service Agency support when recent drought conditions in Lake County reduced the productivity of Golden Yoke’s pasture land.

The small producer, who as a demographic is probably in most need of this type of support, gets cut out because they don’t meet the qualifications established for agricultural production 40 years ago.

“Those kind of things really need a hard look,” Ginsburg said, “because a young person isn’t going to come in and buy 1,000 acres for $2 million. You just can’t afford that. How can the same services be made to work at our scale? There’s so much satellite technology, why don’t they just pull up Google maps and look at what part of my field doesn’t get irrigated? Beginning farmers need things that are different than established farmers, and they’re the ones that actually need more financial assistance because we don’t have the equity built up over many years in operation.”

Anna Jones-Crabtree tells a similar story. She and her husband, Doug, began an organic grain and lentil farm operation north of Havre seven years ago. The Jones-Crabtree family has witnessed widening acceptance of organic farming and non-traditional crops in recent years, but is concerned about the public’s growing disassociation from the farming tradition.

“Everyone can tell a story on how I’m three generations removed from a farm, but we’ve forgotten what that means in terms of our economy, in terms of our connection to the land and taking care of this planet that we live on,” Jones-Crabtree said. “At some level it’s a question of how we help people re-engage in those connections.”

Both Jones-Crabtree and Ginsburg are engaged in production models that emphasize a more direct link between local ag producers and consumers — bringing farm products directly to the public rather than a singular reliance on large-scale distributors.

“You’re not only trying to start a new enterprise that’s seen as kind of different by the surrounding community, but you’re also trying to do it very differently from what the support structure was set up to support,” Jones-Crabtree said. “It’s a really challenging place to be.”